Celebrity Mix

Celebrity Mix is a collection of 8 short films featuring familiar actors that I purchased on DVD. I'll briefly discuss each one below.

Laud Weiner
Starring: David Hyde Pierce
This one was basically just a four minute joke about how Hollywood producers barely do anything yet take all the credit and prestige. Probably true, but as a short film it was only mildly amusing. However its short length is a strength because otherwise the joke would've gotten old really fast.

House Hunting
Starring: Zooey Deschanel, Paul Rudd, Terry Kinney, Felicity Huffman
I had already seen this one online and bought Celebrity Mix because of it. Deschanel and Rudd star as a young couple being shown houses by a quirky real estate agent (Kinney). It's funny and interesting, but mostly I just like Deschanel and Rudd.

Curiosity
Starring: Cheyenne Jackson
I recognized Cheyenne Jackson as Danny, the new TGS castmember on the fourth season of 30 Rock, but this DVD was released before that so I guess he's done other things to qualify as a celebrity. Anyway, this one is about a guy who finds a DVD taped to a street lamp and, when he takes it home to watch it, discovers some slightly creepy footage on there. Basically it kind of rips off the beginning part of David Lynch's Lost Highway with the videotape and, just like Lost Highway, feels pointless when it ends. I wasn't really impressed.

Dysenchanted
Starring: Jim Belushi, Alexis Bledel, Laura Kightlinger, Sarah Wynter, Jaime Bergman
Jim Belushi plays a shrink leading group therapy sessions with a bunch of classic fairy tale princesses who have psychological issues. Kind of cute and charming, but I think it was a comedy and more "cute funny" than actual funny.

Dependable People
Starring: Laura Kightlinger, Lewis Black
Laura Kightlinger - the only person to show up in this short film collection twice - wrote, directed, and starred in this one about a temp who comes to work at an office where the characters are kind of weird and unlikable (to me anyway). Not really worth watching a second time.

Media Whore
Starring: Chris Hardwick, Ali MacLean, Coolio, Taye Diggs, John Doe
Chris Hardwick (who you may recognize if you watch a lot of G4) introduces footage of a fictional MTV-type VJ interviewing such celebrities as Coolio, Taye Diggs, and John Doe. Poking fun at the shallowness of stations like MTV and Much Music (and their VJs), "Astrid" asks them a lot of dumb questions and makes conceited comments about herself. Funny if you like the whole "dumb/mediocre/inappropriate interviewer" shtick used by characters like Ali G and Jiminy Glick in the past, although it might have been funnier if they'd gotten better people to interview.

Waking Dreams
Starring: Ben Shenkman, Tina Holmes
I don't really know who Ben Shenkman and Tina Holmes are (they've done a lot of TV though, and they looked familiar), but this ended up being my favourite one in the collection. Waking Dreams is about an office manager who is told by a temp that she dreamt he will die if he takes the vacation he's been planning. I really loved the writing and acting, helping to create a great dynamic between the two characters. Overall it seems a little vague though, but I guess that makes it more interesting.

Mr. Dramatic
Starring: Amy Acker, Oliver Hudson, Rachel Nichols
In the final short, a woman waits in a bar for her blind date when she discovers that he is... Mr. Dramatic. Clad in a white tux and doing almost everything in slow motion, he quickly becomes the center of attention. If you are the type of person who loved the "Dear Sister" SNL short, you might enjoy this one too, because it has that similar joke of overly dramatizing stupid things. I found it funny, and the deep, dramatic movie trailer narrator voice was also a plus.